Mayan figurehead and other finds in Guatemala

Roaming through some pages I found the following news story and thought it maybe of interest to those in ATS who enjoy Mayan Studies and News.

Valencian archaeologists find Mayan figurehead in Guatemala
By: ThinkSpain , Monday, January 25, 2010

A group of investigators from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and the Universidad de Valencia working deep in the jungles of Guatemala have found a decorated Mayan figurehead dating back to between 300 and 600 AD.

The figurehead, which has remained buried for centuries under the dense vegetation which covers the archaeological ruins at Chilonché in the northern part of Guatemala, appears to pre-date the other remains at the site by some considerable amount of time............

The stuccoed figurehead measures some 2.8m by 3m at the base and rises to a height of 1.5m and has been preserved in excellent condition, even conserving some of its original colours. It was found inside one of the numerous tunnels at the site, which have been built by looters who steal artefacts from the ruins to sell on the black market.

Mayan Head

In another page, a fine phote of a Mayan friese was shown in respects to the story of the Head Figure found in Guatemala.
Another Link

I look forward to seeing what other items are located in respect to the Mayan Influences in this region of Guatemala and hope anyone finding stories about this will feel free to add them for our reviews.

Ciao

Shane


[edit on 26-1-2010 by Shane]

Archaeologists refer to this 'enormous Mayan head sculpture' as quite a significant find, indicating the sight might have been an important city once and definitely predates earlier assumptions.
Reuters sent a press release that some of our national newspapers took up.

It's obvious the Chilonche ruins will get a lot more attention from now on. I'm still waiting for a picture of the head, it doesn't seem to circulate yet? Or is this picture the described head?


[edit on 27/1/10 by Movhisattva]

reply to post by Movhisattva


I do not think they have shown the Figurehead as of yet, but believe it will be similiar to what the following is showing. Although I am NO Expert, this is sort of what I would EXPECT to see, but I maybe wrong.

Giant sculptured Mayan head found

This link offers some better detail on the Area and situation surrounding the find in the first place.

The Petén region is close to well-known Mayan cities such as Tikal and Nakum. It contains dozens of Mayan ruins, but the site at Chilonché has not been excavated to a great extent, largely because the thick jungle region is home to poachers, looters looking for artifacts to sell on the black market, and drug smugglers carrying coc aine to nearby Mexico. The giant head was found inside one of the tunnels built by looters at the site. As soon as the find was located, the archaeologists contacted Guatemalan authorities to ensure security around the site was tightened because of the significance of the find.

It also noted that a similiar Figurehead decorated a Solar Observatory, so maybe this once was such a Building. I guess that time will tell.

But due to the location of the Figurehead, I do not think it has been presented as of yet.

Ciao

Shane